• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Smear butter all over the bird with your hands. Place bird in roasting pan that will accommodate it with room to spare. Season liberally with salt and pepper and squeeze the juice of the lemon over it.

• Put the herbs and garlic and squeezed out lemon halves inside the cavity.

• Roast the chicken in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Baste, then turn the oven temperature down to 375 and roast for 30-45 minutes longer, with occasional basting. The bird should be golden brown all over with a crisp skin and have buttery, lemony juices of a nut-brown color in the bottom of the pan.

• Turn off the oven, leaving the door ajar, and leave the chicken to rest for at least 15 minutes before carving.